Pitching Woes Mount For M’S

The parade continued Thursday, and like the man who follows the elephant, Lou Piniella is growing weary of the cleanup process.

Another week, another starting pitcher tossed into the tail end of the Seattle rotation, another loss, this time to the Baltimore Orioles, 8-2.

In their 39th game, Salomon Torres became the ninth starting pitcher the Mariners have used - the sixth to audition for fourth and fifth spots. The results were … familiar. And so was Piniella’s response once the parade had passed.

“The difference between young pitchers with good arms who have more success than other young pitchers with good arms isn’t their velocity and it’s not their stuff,” Piniella said. “It’s their ability to get ahead in the count - throw first-pitch strikes - and then locate their pitches.”

After a pause for breath, Piniella erupted: “In my three years here you can’t name one young pitcher we’ve brought up who has pitched well for us - and we’ve given them all chances. I’m not in player development. I was brought in to Seattle to win. This is about winning.”

Torres, the 22-year-old right-hander making his first American League start, fell behind each of the first two Baltimore batters he faced Thursday, and when he came in with his best fastball, he became reacquainted with the Piniella theory.

Brady Anderson and Kevin Bass hit back-to-back home runs leading off the first inning. The Orioles added three more homers later - two more off Torres.

If you’re keeping track, the six Mariners pitchers who have tried to follow the acts of Randy Johnson, Chris Bosio and Tim Belcher this season are now a combined 3-10 in 18 starts.

Two of those pitchers, Jim Converse and Tim Davis, are in the minors. Two more, Rafael Carmona and Bob Wells, are in the bullpen and a quick decision away from the minor leagues.

And the other two? Dave Fleming (1-4) and Torres (0-2) are in the rotation - for the simple reason Seattle can find no one in its system any better.

“The difference between a hitter’s batting average when you throw a first-pitch strike or you fall behind is about 200 points,” Piniella said. “You get ahead of him, he has to protect the plate, chase your best pitch. You fall behind, he waits for a fat one.”

Torres fell behind, in the count and on the scoreboard, immediately.

“I had too much adrenalin, I think,” Torres said. “I got down in the count and put a fastball right there and he hit it out. The second hitter, same thing. In this league, anybody with a bat can hit a home run if I pitch bad.”

Though he escaped further first-inning damage, Torres was in trouble again in the second inning when Curtis Goodwin beat out a bunt single, stole second base and took third on a one-out wild pitch. At that point, Piniella went to the mound, and with much animation lectured his newest starter.

“We discussed where I wanted the next pitches to the next few hitters,” Piniella said.

Torres got Anderson and Bass - who an inning earlier had each homered - and stranded Goodwin at third.

Against Mike Mussina (5-3), the Mariners had scratched out a run on Dan Wilson’s RBI single, so Torres went to the third inning with a two-hitter trailing, 2-1. Then he gave up two more hits.

One was a solo home run to Cal Ripken Jr. The other, following a walk to Harold Baines, was the first of two home runs by third baseman Jeff Manto.

“I didn’t pitch bad,” Torres said, “but I’ve got to pitch better. I gave up five hits, but four of them were long.”

“What’d we give up, six home runs? Five?” Piniella asked. “We watch the game films, we watch where the catcher sets his target and then we see the pitch the hitter gets - and hits. It’s usually a foot, 18 inches from the where the target is.

“You can’t win at this level without being able to come within the width of the plate of where you’re trying to throw a pitch.

“We’re playing fairly good baseball on this trip and we’re what, 2-5? We’re beat up, we’ve had injuries, but the team is still playing well - we’ve just got to get pitchers who give you the chance to win. That’s all I’m looking for, someone who’ll give us a chance to win the damned game.”

Notes

After flying all night, rookies Greg Pirkl and Alex Rodriguez arrived in Baltimore about 9:30 a.m. Thursday. Rodriguez started at shortstop, Pirkl sat. The current plans: Felix Fermin and Joey Cora will platoon at second base, and Rodriguez will be the regular shortstop until Luis Sojo comes off the disabled list. Then what? “I don’t know and I won’t think about it,” Rodriguez said. “I came up to do a specific job and I’m going to do my best.” … Darren Bragg, with three hits in his last 23 at-bats, was scratched from the initial lineup. “He’s going to be a good major league hitter,” manager Lou Piniella said. “But if he doesn’t start hitting here soon, he’s going to have to work out his stroke in the minors.”